Turning Gazelles Into Lions

I see it.

I see the jealousy in your eyes, when you notice someone with broad shoulders and a sculpted chest walking down the street. You’d love to scream “meathead” or “cheater”, but you keep your mouth shut. You don’t have the balls to speak your mind. You keep it to yourself, while cowering inside your little bubble of ignorance.

You accuse everyone with a better body of taking steroids in a desperate attempt to justify your inadequacy. “Natty or not?” Who the hell cares? Your problem is not with steroids or cheating, your problem is with yourself. You can’t get it done, while others do the impossible.

“Must be steroids, or the state-of-the-art facility he’s training at. This guy’s probably on welfare, training all day. If I had the time to train like him, I could look like that.”

Sure. Can’t be the countless hours of teeth-gritting effort, the years of sacrifice, the lifetime of dedication. No. It’s definitely steroids…

Wake up and smell the coffee mister LaRusso! You think you deserve it?

You think you deserve a good body because you stumbled into a gym once, or because you drink the occasional protein shake? Wrong. You deserve nothing. If you want something, you must work for it, you must earn it. Delegating responsibility to your genetics, financial situation and other self-imposed limitations is merely an attempt to sugarcoat your lack of doing.

You think, you hope, you wish, you daydream, while someone else is stepping up and taking what you want. This someone doesn’t ask for permission either. He goes out and takes what he wants. He takes what YOU want.

Life’s unfair, isn’t it?

How long does it take to see results?

“My arms won’t grow.

My abs won’t show.

You gotta cheat if you wanna be a pro.”

– You

It takes 10000 hours. 10000 hours of practice to master any craft… so they say. But you want it now. You wouldn’t last 3 hours without a meal or snack, so how would you ever be able to battle adversity and endure hardship over the course of years.

Instant gratification has doomed you to a life of mediocrity.

But let’s assume you’re different. Let’s assume you’re willing to put in the time and effort to move up the ranks. What happens when you turn down the cookie? What happens when you simply clock in every day, without fail? What happens when you put one foot in front of the other? Without stopping. Step by step. Without stopping. Ever.

10000 hours, ten years, ten decades… it makes no difference. Quit looking at your calendar, your spaghetti arms or your social media feed. Focus your attention on the task at hand. Put your head down and do the work. Every single day.

Don’t think, DO!

Do you want to know his secret? Do you want to know why that guy walking the street looks like a statue carved from solid granite while you look like a half-baked muffin?

Doing the work every single day.

Doing what is necessary every single day. That’s the secret. There’s still hope for you, though. Hope is a four letter word, but I have a better 4 letter word for you: W-O-R-K. It’s time you roll up your sleeves and get after it. It’s time you become the lion.

Train with purpose and unrelenting intensity. Eat your meals like clockwork. Define your goals and track your progress. Don’t look for the easy way out. Be prepared to go the distance and embrace the time spent in the dirt. It won’t be easy and it won’t come fast, but it’ll be worth it.

You Need Motivation?

Motivation is for fragile little gazelles. Looking for motivation is like looking for the wind to carry you to greatness. No amount of inspirational quotes, no amount of pump-up music will get the job done. Motivation will abandon you when you need it most. At the end of the day, you simply have to do what you have to do.

“Motivation? Ask me if I need motivation to love my wife, my dogs, the occasional friend, the smell and taste of good food, glorious nature, great music, terrific books, or life itself.”

– TC Luoma

I know you feel low. I know you think you’re too busy. I know you’re dissapointed. I know you seek that unrelenting drive, that inextinguishable fire, wishing there was something you could do or take to get your motivation up, but you’re wasting time.

Motivation doesn’t forge heroes, action does.

How many times have you watched a movie or video, or read a quote that motivated you? Now tell me, how many times have you actually acted on that quote or video? How many times did you actually go out and do what you wanted to do? Case in point.

Don’t feel like training today? – Go to the gym.

Don’t feel like eating your protein and veggies? – Eat up.

Don’t feel like adding weight to the bar? – Do it anyway.

You know exactly what you have to do. Don’t think about it, do it! Leave yourself no option. As long as you have a choice, a plan B, you’ll always take the easy way out. Narrow your choices down to one – Doing the damn thing!

Step up and take what is rightfully yours. You’ve wasted too much time already.

 

Thank you for reading

Victor

 

TC Luoma (2017). Stop Looking For Motivation. T-Nation. https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-stop-looking-for-motivation